I’ve had a number of teammates ask me why I don’t stretch before I skate. It’s a relatively complicated answer, but the main reason is to avoid injury. Let me explain:

First let me clarify that I don’t do passive stretching prior to a game. This is the classic leg on the board, stretch the hamstring, or knees on the ice groin stretch. I do a form of active stretching which I’ll get into later. 

You have to ask yourself, why am I stretching? The classic wisdom was to avoid injury, but there is no evidence that this is true. There is however, evidence that it decreases athletic performance. One study found that stretching the hamstrings prior to a one rep max hamstring curl reduced performance (Winchester et al., 2009). Now these effects are probably transient, so I don’t put too much stock in that study, but it just adds to my reasoning of why I don’t stretch before I play.

Passive stretching is effective in creating a temporary increase in range of motion of a joint. There is something that is called the stretch reflex, and it’s protective. It arises from the nervous system and is meant to prevent muscles from tearing. Picture yourself carrying a heavy box, then your buddy throws a 20 lb dumbbell into the box. Your biceps would respond by quickly activating. That is the stretch reflex. When the reflex is exposed to repeated stimulus, i.e. passive stretching, the excitability of the reflex decreases and you have a sudden, albeit temporary, increase in range of motion (Guissard & Duchateau, 2006). The problem with this is the new range of motion is not stable; you don’t have good control or strength at this new end range. This is where injuries occur. Picture a soccer player who has to rapidly extend the knee to kick a ball. The hamstring has a role in limiting this movement. If the soccer player spent some time stretching the hamstring before the game, the knee will now overextend and this is a great way to rupture an ACL. 

I do think it is important to improve mobility. Notice I didn’t say flexibility. Mobility is flexibility plus the ability to be strong in the end range. So that means training strength after gaining new range of motion. This should be a work in progress, and should happen in a controlled environment. Sports are the opposite of a controlled environment. It’s not like you are thinking that you should be working on your form during a game, that’s what practice is for. I do stretch my calves before I squat, but that is a controlled environment; I’m concentrating on my form. 

So what to do before a game? Active stretching. What is the difference? The goal of active stretching is to bring your joints to your normal end range, not past it. So it’s self limiting. It also gets blood flow to the muscles and gets them warm and ready for action because it uses muscle contraction. What does this look like? I’ll use my stick and rotate my wrist to warm up the forearms for stickhandling. I’ll twist my torso to get my core and back ready for taking shots. I’ll carve C’s in the ice with my legs to get ready for skating. And I’ll skate, that’s technically an active warm up too. 

When you’re young, you can get away with passive stretching but us older beer league hockey players should be a bit more mindful of how we prepare ourselves. 

References: 

Winchester JB, Nelson AG, Kokkonen J. A single 30-s stretch is sufficient to inhibit maximal voluntary strength. Res Q Exerc Sport, 2009; 80: 257-261.

Guissard, N., & Duchateau, J. (2006). Neural Aspects of Muscle Stretching. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 34(4), 154-158. doi:10.1249/01.jes.0000240023.30373.eb